July 2024 will be a great month for sci-fi, with several highly anticipated books arriving on bookstore shelves. From space operas to speculative thrillers, the coming month means a great many options for those looking for something new to read during the summer. Of course, there are also a few long-awaited sequels to established book series on the way, which means July is when readers can finally dive back into these beloved sci-fi worlds.

The science fiction genre has existed for centuries, with Mary Shelley’s 1818 title Frankenstein often credited as the very first. These days, dozens of new sci-fi novels are released monthly, most of which will only gain slight traction with audiences. However, some develop significant hype before they even release, whether because of a unique new idea or the cliffhanger ending of a previous installment. In July 2024, there are a handful of sci-fi novels whose release book fans are buzzing about.

10

The Failures By Benjamin Liar

July 2, 2024

The Failures is Benjamin Liar’s first published novel, but it’s already making quite an impact. Set in a mechanical world created by a host of gods that long ago abandoned their creation, the story follows a group of heroes on their second attempt to repair their home after a previous failure. The novel is the first in a promised trilogy, establishing a complex world and lore that readers can expect to be fully immersed in.

It’s the worldbuilding that seems to have captured preliminary readers of The Failures. Liar’s story has been called “genre-bending,” with a unique approach to sci-fi/fantasy that makes this trilogy unlike anything readers have seen before. So long as The Failures holds up to the hype following its release, there will most certainly be a new, complex sci-fi world for readers to call home.

9

The Icarus Changeling By Timothy Zahn

July 2, 2024

The Icarus Changeling is the third book in Timothy Zahn’s The Icarus Saga, which includes The Icarus Hunt (1999), The Icarus Plot (2022), The Icarus Twin (2023), and The Icarus Job (2024), with two more books expected after the July 2024 installment. The Icarus Job has an impressive 4.44 out of 5 stars on GoodReads, and this overall approval has naturally increased the anticipation for The Icarus Changeling.

Though part of a larger series, The Icarus Changeling holds up well on its own, making it the perfect introduction to the sci-fi world Zahn first established in 1999. This installment revolves around the agents of the secret Icarus Group and follows Gregory Roarke, who must hunt down a mysterious teleportation portal before the rival Patth gets there first. However, a variety of murders make this mission far more complicated.

8

Made For You By Jenna Satterthwaite

July 2, 2024

Another debut novel from a promising writer, Made For You, is a highly unique sci-fi thriller that has everyone talking leading up to its July 2, 2024 release. The story follows Julia, a synthetic human cast to compete on “The Proposal,” a The Bachelor-type reality show. Julia seemingly gets her happily ever after, but when her husband goes missing, she is suddenly at the center of a murder investigation.

Made For You has been billed as a fast-paced thriller combining the guilty pleasure of reality competition with the most delicious science fiction tropes. Full of twists and turns, it also contains something of a whodunit, giving readers the opportunity to make their own guesses about who killed Julia’s husband. Then, of course, there is the obligatory question of what a synthetic human is really capable of feeling.

7

The State Of Paradise By Laura Van Den Berg

July 9, 2024

The State of Paradise connects our world and recent history with the world of science fiction, tricking readers into thinking they know what’s happening before sending their expectations hurtling. Described as a “heart-racing fun house of uncanniness hidden in Florida’s underbelly,” there’s no question why van den Berg’s novel is one of the most highly anticipated within the genre for 2024.

The title of The State of Paradise refers, in part, to the Florida setting, where the summer heat accentuates the mind-bending twists and turns of reality. The story picks up in the years following a global pandemic, during which a free and addictive virtual reality device, MIND’s EYE, was distributed to citizens. As the Florida weather becomes increasingly unbearable, people begin to go missing, leaving the ghostwriting protagonist to grapple with the mystery and questions about reality.

6

All This & More By Peng Shepherd

July 9, 2024

Peng Shepherd wowed critics with The Book of M and The Cartographers, and readers are now looking ahead in anticipation of the July 9th release of This & More. Totted as “inventive,” “mind-bending,” and “extra-eccentric,” the story follows a divorcee single mom who believes she missed her chance at a worthwhile life. However, this changes when she is selected to star in All This and More, a TV show that gives contestants the very real opportunity to change their past decisions to create a whole new life.

Of course, this doesn’t work out to be the fairytale All This & More‘s protagonist hopes, and the quantum technology that makes her new life possible begins to feel a little off. The unique thing about Shepherd’s newest novel is that it puts readers in the driver’s seat, allowing them to make the big decisions about the protagonist’s new reality in the most unsettling ways.

5

This Great Hemisphere By Mateo Askaripour

July 9, 2024

New York Times bestselling author Mateo Askaripour takes on social issues in his books, including Black Buck, which addresses racism in corporate America with humor. Now, 2024’s The Great Hemisphere takes on similar parallels through mystery and sci-fi. The speculative novel follows Sweetmint, a young woman born as an Invisible in a world split into hemispheres following an environmental crisis.

The divided world of The Great Hemisphere allows for a thought-provoking but jarringly fast-paced story as Sweetmint is pulled into a dangerous mystery. Her brother, whom she believed was dead, turns out to not only be alive but the primary suspect in a murder. As Askaripour’s novel follows her through this chaos, the author explores the ways that society’s concept of reality can be manipulated.

4

The Family Experiment By John Marrs

July 9, 2024

Set in the same universe as his previous novels, The One and The Marriage Act, John Marrs’ The Family Experiment explores a future in which overpopulation takes the UK toward its breaking point. It becomes impractical for families to have real babies, so a company creates Virtual Children, digital babies that grow through to adulthood and must be accessed through the metaverse and a VR headset.

Marrs’ speculative novel sees the company that created Virtual Children roll out a reality TV competition called The Substitute. In this competition, ten couples raise ten babies up to 18 in a condensed nine months, all for the chance to either keep the virtual baby or take home enough money to start a family of their own. The Family Experiment is an offputting concept, somewhat dark and twisted, that explores the desperate desire for parenthood and the lengths couples will go to satisfy it.

3

Descent By Marko Kloos

July 16, 2024

Marko Kloos The Palladium Wars series includes Aftershock (2019), Ballistic (2020), Citadel (2021), and the upcoming Descent (2024), which will continue the story that is classic sci-fi through and through. The series is set in a galaxy on the brink of war and follows the efforts of those who would go to any lengths to secure peace. Descent sees all this tension brought to a head.

Kloos’ 2024 novel follows various protagonists across the galaxy, among the most notable being Aden Jensen, who lost a decade of his life as a prisoner of war. If he hopes to secure long-lasting freedom, he must return to his home planet and act as a spy against the nationalist uprising there. There are space pirates, plenty of battles, terrorists, and, of course, a great deal of political intrigue.

2

Gravity Lost By L.M. Sagas

July 23, 2024

L.M. Sagas’ Gravity Lost is the sequel to Cascade Failure (2024), which introduced the ragtag crew of the Ambit. Protagonist Jal winds up an accidental member of the AI-run spaceship’s crew, stuck between the universe’s primary two powers, the Trust and the Union. The Ambit’s crew is akin to Guardians of the Galaxy, with just as much explosive action and space-family dysfunction.

Gravity Lost sees Jal and her pals participate in a jailbreak, freeing a prisoner that they themselves had helped put away. However, with the Union and Trust both determined to get their hands on him, it’s imperative that certain dirty secrets be extracted first. This installment of Sagas’ series will see the characters confronted with their own uncomfortable truths, and it might just tear them apart.

1

Navigational Entanglements By Aliette de Bodard

July 30, 2024

This novella, by Nebula, Ignyte, and Locus Award-winning author Aliette de Bodard, combines the features of a grand space opera with those of a Xiancia drama. The story jumps between two primary characters, Việt Nhi and Hạc Cúc, members of two Navigator clans who must work together after an imperial envoy is found dead from clan poison.

Toted as an adult queer sci-fi, there’s a lot to look forward to with Navigational Entanglements. It’s a short and sweet story with a great deal of action and a decent amount of worldbuilding for its length. Việt Nhi and Hạc Cúc working out their differences is sure to be the highlight, with a “found family” dynamic that is often highly enjoyable in a great sci-fi book.